#gonefishin – The Boring Old Man

Well it’s been a while and I’ve been lagging here, so I figured I should at least do a little catch up.

The last couple weeks have off the charts ridiculous at work. Longer hours, bigger work load and fewer guys to distribute the load to. And oddly instead of commute-time traffic getting better after schools letting out for Summer, it’s been exponentially worse the last few weeks. Not that I’m not accustomed to bad traffic, its just that extra hour – hour and a half a day eats into my non-work life…

I did get a day out fishing last weekend with my brother-in-law Kaptain Karel. Unfortunately after a couple hours at sea, seasickness whipped me pretty good as the swells got a little gnarly. Nonetheless, it was still a good day overall and I’ve got a bunch of nice fish in the freezer.

On the music front, things have been slower than I’d like, but I’m still getting out and playing here and there, even posted up a few new clips in my YouTube channel.

Random beats. I record ’em so I don’t forget ’em

I’ve also got a new potential band in the works with some folks I found on BandMix.com. We’ve not yet met in person so it may be nothing, but they’ve given me a few tunes to learn over the next couple weeks while the guitarist is out of town. So who knows? Come mid-July I might finally be back in an actual band for a change. I don’t like to get my hopes up, as I’ve been down this road many, many times over the last 4 decades. Nonetheless, I’m excited about it and looking forward to jamming with some new folks.

The best news of all however is that I’m officially on vacation for the next week! And it’s shaping up to be a good one. We’ve got a concert to go to, its the Mrs.’ Birthday, and we’re heading back down to Pismo Beach for a few days. That should also allow for me getting back in the water for the FIRST SURF OF THE YEAR! Geez, how sad is that? The year is half over and I haven’t surfed a single time. Something has gone sideways if that’s the case… it HAS been a weird one, that’s for sure.

Anyhow, that’s about the size of it for now. June has been a blur thus far, but a much needed respite is in the wings. More to come…

Thanks for stopping by!

Sunday I got to hang out with my brother-in-law and his work/fishing buddy Bill, and do some fishing out of Half Moon Bay.

B-I-L has a great boat – the Miss Jessica – and he’s an awesome waterman, so getting out on the ocean with him is a real treat, despite the 3:30am “boarding call”.

We launched at the HMB marina at 5am and headed south toward Pescadero. We didn’t have much luck for the first couple hours, then I was finally able to land a salmon, only to have it 3″ too short, so back into the sea it went…

About half an hour later, I pulled in this beauty:

I am not by any means a “fisherman”. As a kid I used to fish lakes and rivers with a couple of cousins, but by my teen years I had too many other interests and fishing fell off my to do list for decades. But I gotta say, this open water ocean fishing is a whole different level!

We first ran down to south towards Pescadero, but when things were not happening we headed north up through Pacifica, nearly to the Golden Gate Bridge. But evidently the fish had other plans for their Sunday…

Anyhow, as luck would have it, my keeper was the ONLY fish brought in that day. The irony that 3 fisherman (two with decades of experience!) could stay out on the water for 11 hours and the only fish brought in was by the noob with literally. 001% the experience of the other guys, was hilarious to me. Nonetheless, despite their arguments that I should take the whole Salmon, as it was my first ever caught, I insisted the we split it 3 ways – keeping with a long standing tradition of my BIL – so we all walked away with a nice couple Salmon steaks after a great day on the water.

These trips are a great learning experience for me, it’s almost information overload to be honest, but its awesome to have guys that know a LOT about a subject try to pass on as much information as they can, to make your experience all the better. And being on the water is always a joy for me, no matter the time of year or the conditions. To be honest, the fish is just a nice parting gift, the least important part of the day.

I think the old adage is true: the worst day of fishing beats the best day of working!

Thanks for a great day Captains Karel and Bill – it’s one I won’t soon forget!

Thanks for reading!

Tag: #gonefishin

The Storm Before the Calm.

Gone Fishin’